


we're looking for angels in the darkest of skies

by commanderbadass



Category: Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, mentioned Gert Yorkes, post 2x13
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-10-08 22:25:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17394818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/commanderbadass/pseuds/commanderbadass
Summary: With a shaking hand, Nico wiped away a tear that she was never going to let roll down her cheek. She gave them one last furious and hopeless look."I'm out of here."orNico, Alex and Molly try to find a way to get the rest of the group back.





	we're looking for angels in the darkest of skies

"We have each other."

Alex pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. His words were far from enough to stop Nico's tears. Molly felt like she had been punched in the chest and was out of breath. She sat down on the stairs, her elbows on her knees, and took deep breaths. Alex glanced at Leslie who had a hand on her stomach and a lost look in her eyes. Xavin looked even more lost, arms dangling at her side as if she didn't belong there now that Karolina was gone.

Seconds felt like hours in this heavy silence until Nico, who had been pacing up and down the hall for a minute, suddenly walked towards Xavin.

"What else do you know about this?" The harsh tone in her voice didn't make Xavin flinch.

"I’m afraid I don’t know much."

"Oh please, Xavin," she laughed without a hint of humor. "Aren’t you supposed to be Karolina’s _protector_? Maybe now's the time to make yourself useful."

"I understand your distress, Nico, but-"

"Do you?" She bit back.

"Nico," Alex called in a tone he wanted firm but friendly. Neither were convincing.

"What?"

He could hear the edge in Nico’s voice, the barely audible crack. And he knew she was either going to cry or to use the Staff of One. The second option was more likely to happen and he wasn't particularly keen on getting hurt. So he let it go.

With a shaking hand, Nico wiped away a tear that she was never going to let roll down her cheek. She gave them one last furious and hopeless look before turning back to take the stairs.

"I'm out of here."

Seeing that Alex was about to say something, Leslie raised her hand and stopped the teenager before he could try to make Nico stay.

"Let her go," she said softly. "We're all on edge."

A door slammed shut and Alex exhaled loudly, his head down and his hands on his hips. For the first time since they had learned they had lost half of the group, he looked defeated.

"Why don't you try to get some sleep?" Leslie suggested.

"And do nothing?" Molly asked loudly, immediately getting up to stand beside Alex.

"It's five." Alex countered at the exact same time.

"And you're not going to come up with anything right now," Leslie said, staring at both teenagers in front of her. "So take the rest of the day off and we'll talk in the morning."

"But-"

"She's my daughter, Alex. Right now the only thing I want is to find her. Just like you."

Alex sighed. "I know."

"Then listen to me. They're too powerful and dangerous for us to take any hasty decisions. Trust me."

Molly and Alex huffed at the word but Leslie pretended she hadn't heard anything.

"I'll see you in the morning."

She left the room, not giving them the opportunity to object. Molly gave Alex's arm a light squeeze and went up the stairs, glancing at Xavin on the way. Being alone with the alien, Alex cracked his knuckles, not really knowing what to say.

"I'm sorry about Nico," he apologized. "She's a bit shaken up. We all are."

"It's alright. I understand."

"I'll be..." Alex pointed to the alcove he used as a room. "In case you need anything."

Xavin thanked him and told him she would stay with Leslie. Alex agreed it was the best idea and they both left the room, living the hallway empty.

* * *

"Hey."

Nico turned her head and caught a glimpse of pink fabric from the corner of her eyes.

"I’m sorry about your sister," she said.

Nico had been yelling and crying about Karolina for a good hour and when she realized she hadn't made sure the younger girl was okay, she felt ashamed. Molly walked up to Nico, the usual bounce in her step missing. She let herself slide down against the wall, just like Nico had done a few minutes before and rested her head on her friend's shoulder.

"I’m sorry about Karolina."

Molly fidgeted with the laces of Nico’s dress and had it been anyone else she probably would’ve cut their hand.

"Do you think they’re-"

"No." Nico cut her off.

Molly lifted her head up to look right into Nico’s eyes. Neither of them needed fake reassurance or grand speeches about positivity. They had been through enough. They didn’t need misplaced hope. Her eyes were still red from crying and she didn't look like she had the energy to lie so Molly decided she wasn't.

"What are we going to do?"

"Honestly, Molly, I don’t know," Nico sighed. "I’m sorry."

She snuck her arm around Molly's frame and brought the girl closer to her. It was so easy to forget how young Molly was, given she was towering over Nico when the latter discarded her platform shoes. No matter how strong Molly looked, she was still just a fifteen-year-old girl who had lost her sister. She snuggled up a bit more into Nico's side, seeking comfort and warmth.

When the shadows on the walls started to faint due to the lack of light in the room, Nico pressed Molly’s shoulder and waited for the younger girl to move to get up.

"You should try to get some sleep," Nico told Molly and the girl stood up and made her way to the door. "You can stay here if you want," she added quickly.

Molly turned around and smiled. "It’s fine. I think I need to be alone for a while."

"But no sneaking out!" Nico called, a teasing smile stretching her lips.

"Promise," Molly chuckled. "Goodnight, Nico."

"Goodnight."

* * *

The clock in the room was ticking in a way that made Nico groan into the mattress. She kept tossing and turning, rolling on her back, on her side, pushing away the sheets or wrapping herself in them. Her feet were cold and her hands were burning and for a second she thought she had a fever. Every time she turned to her right, she was confronted with the empty space left by Karolina. Her heart started to beat faster. She felt the lump in her throat. Karolina was everywhere, from her perfume on the pillow next no Nico’s head to her yellow robe on the chair.

Nico kicked the sheets aside and sat on the edge of the bed. She ran a hand across her face, took a deep breath and slipped her feet in her shoes. She wouldn’t fall asleep anyway. Not when all her mind could focus on was Karolina and the high probability of never seeing her again.

The wooden staircase creaked under Nico’s feet. She headed towards the leaving room and grabbed an apple. She walked around the table a dozen times, throwing the apple in the air and catching it at an even rhythm. The hollow sound calmed her down, helped her to focus on something else. Eventually she left the room, hands deep in the pockets of her hoodie, dragging her feet to the hallway. She kicked a pebble on the floor.

"Can’t sleep?" A voice asked, startling her.

The sound came from Alex’s illuminated room and Nico noticed he was sitting crossed-legged on his bed, staring at the computer lights. She walked into the room, dragging her feet.

"You neither."

Alex shook his head no and exaggeratedly motioned for her to sit, showing the steps with both his arms.

"Please, take a seat."

Nico sat down and Alex got up immediately. He pushed aside old and cracked computer screens, apparently looking for something. A screwdriver fell on the ground, a loud clank in the calm of the night. Then something that sounded like glasses clinking resonated in the room and Alex snapped his fingers, satisfied. He turned around with two bottles in his hands.

"Beer?" He asked.

"You have beers?" Nico said, raising her eyebrows.

She wondered how and why the teenager had a six-pack stored between a box of tools and dismantled radios.

"Warm, cheap and disgusting."

But really, at that moment, she didn’t care.

"Sounds great."

Alex handed her the bottle and they both struggled to open them, using the steps as a bottle opener. He went back to his previous place, on his bed. Nico leaned against the wall and took a sip. The lukewarm drink left an unpleasant and bitter taste on her tongue. She made a funny face and Alex chuckled, despite making the exact same face.

They sat in silence, sharing a bag of sour candies, a leftover from Jonah's funeral banquet. The situation hadn't changed that much.

"How much would you pay to have Karolina here instead of me?" Alex asked suddenly.

Nico felt her heart drop in her chest and her knuckles turned white around the bottle. The very reason she was there was to forget about Karolina for a second. Not to hear sick jokes about her.

"Don't be a dick."

She took a mouthful of beer. She knew it wasn't Alex's intention to hurt her. It was an opening, a way for her to start talking about Karolina if she wanted to. An alarming lack of tact from the boy but nice enough for Nico to play along.

"What? I'm serious."

"You mean how many shitty beers would I drink?" Nico asked, exaggerating a grimace after taking another sip.

Alex shrugged. "Yeah."

"Two."

Alex threw his head back and laughed heartily. "Harsh."

Nico couldn't stop the smile appearing on her lips. They hadn't laughed in days.

"Well, you're only one beer away from your wish coming true."

He handed another bottle to her. Nico shook her head.

"Yeah, no. I'm not getting drunk with _you_ when my girlfriend is being held hostage by psychotic aliens."

She pushed on her hands to get up and put the empty bottle on the table nearby. 

"Hey, that wasn't my best joke. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Nico said in a low voice.

Alex called her as she was about to leave.

"She came to me you know. For advice. About you."

Nico turned around, eyebrows raised, and Alex chuckled, whispering a "I know" before pushing his glasses up.

In the end, Nico accepted the second bottle of beer. She asked him what terrible advice he could have possibly given to the blonde. She rambled and cried about Karolina because that's all she wanted to do and Alex listened because his time was the least he could give her. They talked about Karolina's smile and Karolina's laugh and how solar she could be when everything looked so dark. They talked about Livvie and the fear and anger Alex had felt when she had been held at gunpoint. They remembered funny stories that happened in middle school and tried to name at least two of Chase's teammates. They failed miserably. And if she hadn't seen the green numbers on the digital clock in the middle of the night, Nico would've stayed until sunrise.

It was the sun that woke Nico up. The light hit her eyelids and she groaned, thinking it was way too early. Her head was slightly pounding, her throat was dry and the water she splashed on her face a minute later failed to suppress the headache she had felt for the past two days. She laboriously slipped on clothes and heard voices and what sounded like forks hitting plates.

Molly and Leslie were sitting on opposite sides of the table while Alex was leaning on the backrest of a chair at the head of the table. Xavin only appeared in Nico's field of vision when she entered the room, ending the conversation.

"By all means, don't stop your secret house meeting for me."

"We didn't want to wake you up," Molly tried.

"It's my fault. I told them to let you sleep."

Nico caught the sincere look in Alex's eyes and sighed heavily. She wasn't in the mood to fight. She took the apple she had juggled with the night before and this time bit into it. She motioned for them to continue their conversation.

"Xavin was explaining how the hosts were usually chosen," Alex said. "They pick healthy people, mundane enough so that they can control them without too much difficulty. Excluding people like Molly, for example."

Nico nodded. "So do we know who Jonah's using as a host now?"

"I believe it is one of your parents," Xavin said. "He took Karolina away after I tried to stop him." 

"My parents were after me. It can’t be one of them," Alex said and glanced at Nico.

"Don’t look at me." Nico shrugged. "My parents were after me as well. I have a few bruises to prove it."

"Same," Molly added.

Alex closed his eyes and rubbed his temples.

"I was here and Frank is still at the Crater," Leslie joined the conversation. "It has to be Victor."

"Great," Nico groaned, letting herself fall on the closest chair.

"So Chase’s dad is Jonah now, uh?" Molly repeated, dumbfounded, before sitting next to Nico.

"What about the others?" Alex asked Xavin. "You said the Magistrate had his family with him."

"Yes. His wife, his daughter and his son. It could be anyone that was close to the ship when it was destroyed."

"So basically anyone at the dig site." Nico sighed. 

They all stared at each other for a second before remembering they were all that was left and that they doubting each other wasn't the best thing to do at the moment. 

"What do we do now?" Nico asked.

"We go to the Stein's house. Recon mission. We get the most information and elements we can. We try to see if Karolina and Gert are there."

Molly turned to Alex. "And what if they're in the house? You don't plan on leaving them there, right?"

"Leslie was right yesterday." This succession of words felt like the hardest thing to say to Alex. "We won't have multiple chances at getting them back. We can't just show up there, blow up the house and get the girls back, Molly. That is if that's where they're keeping them."

Alex left the room for a couple of seconds and came back with a worn-out backpack. He opened it and grabbed the green goggles it contained. The plan was simple: use Chase's goggles to locate Karolina and Gert in the Stein's house. If they were nowhere to be seen, they would check the other houses and then come back to the hostel. They agreed to leave at sundown. It would give time to Alex to fix the Fistigons and they'd be less visible.

In the middle of the afternoon, Molly showed up in Nico's room and the older girl quickly walked up to her to close the door behind them. Molly gave her a funny look.

"Look, only you can’t be the host so I need you to do something for me," Nico explained.

"Okay…" Molly dragged the word, tilting her head.

Nico took a deep breath. "You have to put us down." 

"Excuse me?" Molly asked in a high-pitched voice and Nico told her to keep it down.

"I mean _knock us out_ ," Nico rephrased.

Molly pointed out that the two sentences had completely different meanings and advised Nico to think about what she was saying before actually saying it. Nico sat down on the bed.

"You really think someone here could be the host?"

"You heard Barbie Fairytopia." Molly rolled her eyes at the nickname. "Anyone at the dig site."

The younger girl walked around the room and stopped in front of the mirror.

"Can’t you use a sleep spell or something on them?" She asked mindlessly, playing with her hair.

"I could be _me_ , Molly."

"No. Xavin said they didn’t choose people with powers as their hosts."

"I’m different from you. The Staff gives me power."

"Are you sure about that?" Molly asked, abandoning the mirror.

"I don’t- I don’t know, Molly. OK? All I know is that we can’t risk losing someone else," Nico said coldly. "So keep an eye on Alex and Leslie. And even Xavin, for all we know it could be her."

Molly chuckled, leaning on the footboard of the bed. "Come on. You know it’s not her."

"Whatever." Nico let herself fall back on the mattress, pouting.

Molly grabbed a pillow and hold it to her chest, walking up to Nico.

"She’s trying to help, you know. I think." She shrugged but Nico wasn't convinced.

She lied down next to Nico, mindlessly tapping the pillow on her stomach. They fell into a comfortable silence, at least as comfortable as it could get. Just a few minutes of peace and quiet in this world that was falling apart. They could almost hear each other’s headache.

"We’'re gonna find them."

"Yeah?" Molly sounded unsure.

"Yeah," Nico said with an honest smile.

Molly moved closer to the other girl, rested her head on her shoulder and both of them closed their eyes. A knock on the door broke the silence in the room. Nico opened one eye and saw Alex’s figure in front of the doorframe. She felt sick for a second, knowing what she had asked Molly. The sound of Alex’s footsteps got closer and soon after the mattress sunk deeper. They lay there, not saying a word, painfully aware that they were all that was left.

"The three musketeers, possibly en route to their last mission," Alex finally said.

"Can we please avoid the morbid allusions?" Nico replied. "I'm not planning on dying today."

Molly suddenly clapped her hands and pushed herself up on her elbows before standing up.

"It's time. Ready?"

She extended her hand and waited for Alex and Nico to put their hands on top of hers. They groaned but eventually obliged - they couldn't resist Molly's way too confident smile. The same memory came back to them. The whole group, after their first fight together, deciding they would stop their parents.

"Ready."

**Author's Note:**

> english isn't my first language, i'm sorry if there's a few mistakes :)


End file.
